Rare Dragoian Metal
Rare Dragoian Metal (RDM) or Drake Metal, is a dense, strong and heavy metal found within the bodies and blood of DragonKin. The metal, when pure, can weigh an extreme amount, although such purity is rare outside of the Soul Dragons. The metal is highly toxic to those who are not DragonKin if consumed, licked or merged with the blood and will kill the infected in a quick, but agonizing death. If consumed by male DragonKin (excluding small amounts of their own DNA, such as a tooth or a scale to prevent accidental death), the metal will cause the same reaction it would to non-DragonKin. Due to this, as well as RDM's highly resilient nature, DragonKin will take a very long time to decompose, and when they do, they will leave behind deposits of the metal. The metal does not occur elsewhere in nature, but can be found in sizeable quantities easily throughout the Dragoian Home Galaxy due to widespread DragonKin species. RDM is unique in how it is the only material that is toxic to DragonKin, but only males. Instead of burial, some species melt down their dead to quickly reclaim the RDM. However this process is considered barbaric by many species and is not commonly practiced and is sometimes considered criminal. Occasionally, often as a form of painful death, living DragonKin are melted down. The melting of living DragonKin is considered a crime by almost all species, and is only really done by certain sadistic DragonKin females. Due to it's rarity, especially at higher purities, RDM is most often found as an alloy to bulk it out, the strength of these alloys vary greatly, depending on the proportion of RDM as well as the other materials. Uses RDM is normally used in armour for soldiers and also for vehicles in the form of an Iron-RDM alloy, the higher the RDM concentration, the stronger, but heavier the alloy. The metal is also sometimes used in weapons manufacture, when a very high melting point is required, such as in Saieya Hrasta's Furnace line of weapons. Species such as the Drakeians sometimes do not to use RDM in weapons and armour manufacture (except for ships, where RDM is heavily used), preffering composite materials, which while not as strong as RDM, are much lighter and therefore more practical in terms of mobility. RDM, much like the DragonKin it comes from, retains it's form under intense heat (around 2000C (2273.15K) for low purity, higher for higher purities) for around an hour before melting, at which point it can be either refined, or merged with other metals to create alloys. These alloys do not have as strong molecular bonds as refined, over 50% pure, RDM, but are considerably stronger than the metal to which RDM was alloyed with. Appearance RDM is typically a dark grey, similar to slate's colour, metal that is shiny when cut or polished. However, when found in DragonKin bodies, it's typically pigmented allowing it to appear as any nearly any colour. When found in DragonKin bodies, RDM does not shine easily, leaving DragonKin with bodies that don't reflect much light. This is helpful in bright light, as sunlight cannot bounce off the snout and into the eyes. Common Names Rare Dragoian Metal - Dragoians, Ancient Dragoians Drake Metal - Drakeians, Various Dragon Metal - Various Rare Dragon Metal - Various, less common than Dragon Metal Rare Drake Metal - Various, less common than Drake Metal DragonKin Base Metal - Technical generic term that all species will understand Category:Minerals Category:General